Not Going to Take This Anymore
by InsanityIsClarity
Summary: USED TO BE NOT GOING TO BE IGNORED ANYMORE. Stories of how the Psych cast have come to be as strong as they are now. CHAPTER TWO: Not Going to Doubt Myself Again. Jules goes through the fifth grade and learns to deal with mean people and what they might say to her. Disclaimer: I don't own Psych. No slash.
1. Not Going to be Ignored Anymore

**AN: For those who don't know, I'm a HUGE Psych fan. Just as much as I am a GF fan. It's just that Psych has such complicated plots, I don't think that in my three months of fanfiction writing that I'm ready for that yet. So I give you… a one shot about Shawn's sophomore year of high school. Enjoy!**

Shawn sighed.

It was his second year of high school, and Gus had gotten into a fancy academy across town and wouldn't be joining him. He honestly had no idea how he'd make it through the rest of high school without his best friend. Sure, he was charismatic, and sure, he could make friends fairly easily. But no one understood him like Gus did. And he never truly understood anyone like he did Gus, despite knowing their intimate secrets due to his "gift." And Shawn had found all throughout his life that he made enemies just as quickly as he did friends.

Deciding that he should at least try to make some more friends- he never really needed them before since Gus was always with him, willingly or not- Shawn's lightning-quick mind reeled through all the things people said he could improve in himself. His mind went through a lot of times when people told him he should just shut up. There were even more times when people were uncomfortable with him demonstrating his knowledge of the intimate details in their lives. However, being told to stop being so annoying was even more commonly being said to him in his 15 years.

Shawn never liked conformity. He thought it was idiotic how people felt the need to be exactly the same as everyone else. But in this case, he just didn't see how else he could live through the next three years. Being hated was one of his least favorite things; the thought of everyone being upset at him was just _terrifying_. His parents had started to fight recently too, and he almost didn't feel the energy to be different anymore.

So he thought. Anytime he wanted to talk, he thought. Let his eidetic memory take him to a memory to distract himself. He still remembered everything that was happening in the present, and as long as he thought of it, he could recall conversations other people had and lectures teachers gave, and he always aced every test, even if he looked spacey in class. People weren't angry at him anymore. They didn't call him annoying, or too loud, or creepy. He used the same strategy when his parents fought, just zoned out until it was over.

He thought of happy times. He remembered his good times with Gus- both from their childhood and from the few times a year Gus visited home and Shawn spent the whole time he was home with him watching their favorite movies and playing their favorite video games. He remembered the times his family was acting like a real family: no fighting, no training. Then again what is _real_? These were the questions Shawn would think up in his head and spend an entire day thinking through- because hey, it was better than being disliked.

_Anything_ was better than being disliked, in Shawn's opinion. Despite his parents' fighting, the teen still had an innocence about him. An innocence that wanted to please everyone- and believed he could. He still had yet to give up on pleasing his father- that would come later.

This went on for a while. This fear of displeasing people went on almost all throughout Shawn's sophomore year of high school. But….

But at the end of the year, Shawn was starting to crave attention again; attention to someone that wasn't a figment of his imagination- but it wasn't really his imagination; these people were real, just not where or when he was- and he started feeling lonely.

Well, lonelier than before. So Shawn started talking to his peers again, quietly- very, very quietly- with the utmost caution. He talked almost delicately- rehearsing every word he spoke a thousand times over before it even left his mouth to check for anything that might make someone unhappy with him. Over Shawn's silent year, his fear of rejection had grown, having multiplied many times, and it was only the fact that his parents couldn't talk to him without starting a fight with the other anymore that made him talk to his classmates at all.

He was ignored. Shawn's now almost-whisper-like voice was flat out ignored. Maybe they just didn't hear him, or maybe they had forgotten he was even there. Maybe his classmates had started a conspiracy against him! Ok, so that one was a little farfetched, but Shawn's overactive mind still legitimately considered it.

To him, being ignored was just as bad as being rejected. He kept talking to people though, hoping with all his heart that they just might hear him and _not_ be mad- he had enough anger at home with his parents. They still didn't hear him, and he started to feel absolutely miserable at school; he tried and failed and tried and failed again, each time getting slightly- but only slightly, even he didn't notice the subconscious volume change his voice was gradually making- louder in his endeavors.

These admittedly pathetic attempts at gaining attention went on for a month. Each day he would get louder, talk more, or laugh at just one more joke. Each day he would daydream just a little less than the day before. But it still wouldn't work! Shawn almost felt that he was losing his sanity with how invisible he felt most of the time. Multiple times a day he would check his back to make absolute sure he wasn't wearing some invisibility cloak.

Then, one day he snapped. He just couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of the vicious cycle of being constantly ignored that he had found himself in. He didn't snap in a bad way, however. He just snapped back to the way he was before, suddenly and somewhat painfully.

He started talking loudly again. Bounding everywhere. Coming up with crazy nicknames for everyone- and I mean _everyone_. He was noticed again. Some people hated him; in fact most did. But some enjoyed his unique personality and outlook on life. He made a few close friends, and, unknown to Shawn, Gus would decide to quit the academy after that year and would move back that summer. The people who liked Shawn for who he was balance out those who didn't. And it was WAYYYY better than being ignored- Shawn's words not mine.

It was a week after Shawn reverted back to normal, and that day, Shawn promised himself something. He promised himself that he would never be quiet again. If people disliked him, so be it. And if they liked him, that was great. Either way he would be himself.

Shawn Spencer would never be ignorable again.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed! If I ever write another Psych fanfic, please note I will never do slash, and will rarely do a pairing at all- I just don't like writing romance. Sorry if that's what you like. Anyways, that's all I've got. PLEASE LEAVE A RATING… IT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY SUPERCALIFREDGELISTICEXPIALADOCIOUS! (Did I spell that right? Did I use that correctly? I don't know)**


	2. Not Going to Doubt Myself Again

**AN: Hi! Bet you guys didn't think I'd add anything to this story! Well I did, and here it is: a story from Juliet's school days, the thoughts of a fifth-grade Jules! Enjoy!**

Juliet sighed.

The 5th grade was absolute torture! Absolute torture!

She doubted it was even legal for them to make her take pre-algebra. Sure she was a bit gifted when it came to math, but she wasn't that good. And she was definitely struggling through the class, although she would never admit it.

It's not even like she was having problems with the work- the work was easy. It was that pre-algebra was an eighth grade math glass, and she didn't like the eighth graders, or the teacher for that matter. Especially since Mr. Mahers always thought it would be a good idea to make the whole class do group projects at least once a week.

Juliet didn't like group projects. She used to, she really did. But as soon as her group found out she was a math genius in a ten-year-old's body, they pretty much stuck her with the work. She always did the work- she didn't want a bad grade- but she hated having to do it by herself while the rest of her group messed around.

So yea, Juliet O'Hara hated pre-algebra. But it was not just pre-algebra that made her fifth grade year miserable. It was also reading class.

Juliet was in reading class with kids her age, but she still hated it. She just didn't understand the literature. The class was reading Holes, and Juliet just simply couldn't understand what was happening most of the time.

And it didn't help that the teacher hated her. The reading teacher, Mrs. Dubinsky, seriously hated Juliet, and it wasn't just her exaggerating either. It might've been because Juliet asked too many questions. It might've been because she was too perky. She didn't know for sure, but she was definitely disliked by that teacher.

Juliet had a tendency to get a little sidetracked sometimes. As much as she tried to pay attention in class, her mind would drift. Something the teacher said would remind her of something else, and that would, in turn, remind her of something else. Then she would remember a question she had about whatever she thought about.

Her mind just couldn't rest until she had an answer to her question, so she asked, just so her mind could be satisfied. However, since her teacher couldn't see the connections Juliet had made between the original subject and her final question, her query would always come off as both disrespectful and idiotic.

And being labeled as "disrespectful" and "idiotic" didn't exactly help with making friends. Juliet's classmates were not exactly nice to her.

Okay, so that was a complete understatement. Her classmates were… brutal. They teased her for being nerdy. Juliet wasn't even the typical nerd, either. If anything she was more pretty, and nicer than any of them. But she was smarter than them. She could do math at 3 grade levels higher than the rest of the fifth grade. She also was one of the smartest in her grade when it came to science and history too.

The only subject she didn't excel in was reading, and when she failed in that class, people made fun of her for being stupid. How they could be mean to her for being too smart and then, an hour later, be mean to her for being too dumb, Juliet just didn't understand.

Juliet had what she termed as "social naivety." She never truly knew what her classmates talked about; never even knowing of all the drama that happened because no one told her- for which she was glad. The only times she really was informed on the social matters of the fifth grade were when she was being targeted with other girls' hateful words.

Juliet didn't understand a lot of what they were saying to her- she didn't completely understand why they were making fun of her. Because of this, she was protected from a lot of potential hurt from the verbal abuse.

However, she did understand some of it. She did understand when they told her that no one liked her. She did understand when they told her that she was a failure. She didn't understand why no one liked her or why she was a failure, she just understood that they didn't, and that they thought she was.

Who cares what they think? Juliet didn't. Or at least, she tried not to. She tried not to let them get to her. Tried not to believe that what they were saying was true. But, in all honesty, they were wearing her down. The times that she did believe that they were right became more and more frequent.

She tried to stay strong, she tried to stand up for herself, tried to maintain her self-confidence. She needed help though, she admitted it. She needed someone to help her combat the feelings of worthlessness that constantly tore at her.

Help did come. One day, Juliet was searching the web, and she came across an anti- bullying blog. It was written by a person who referred to herself or himself as X. X encouraged his readers to email him if they ever needed someone to talk to, as long as they didn't share too much personal information.

She started emailing X. X offered encouragement that no one else could give. X told her to hang on, to wait out the bad days, because when good days come, they would be worth the wait. She looked forward to every email from X, and X gave her a reason to look forward to every new day.

Then, one day, X stopped emailing Juliet back. X sent one last email, telling Juliet that he had to stop emailing her because his/her new job required a lot more time and that she should hang on, as well that he hoped he would be able to start emailing her again sometime in the future.

Without X there anymore, Juliet didn't think she couldn't make it through the day. However, she soon discovered she could. She started hanging on. Deciding that she wanted more than to just survive the year, she tried more than just "hanging on."

She started standing up for herself, deciding she wasn't going to take what the people were dishing out laying down. She started demanding that her algebra partners did their shares of the work. She started waiting till after class to ask her questions, accepting that that problem was with herself to blame. She started standing up to her peers when they called her names, informing them that she was indeed smart, and she was indeed awesome. She started truly believing that she was amazing again.

Juliet O'Hara would not doubt herself again.


	3. Not Going to Go Unappreciated Anymore

Gus sighed.

He always thought that going to a private academy would be fun. He could be with people who thought like he did, instead of goof off and mess around like people at his old school. So when his parents were able to get him a scholarship to the Oakland Academy 30 miles outside of Santa Barbara, he was thrilled. Don't get me wrong, he knew he would miss Shawn, but he figured he couldn't be best friends with Shawn forever, so may as well start making some more friends.

Gus was dead wrong. The Oakland Academy was awful. All of his classmates were snobs, and even though Gus was smart, he wasn't anywhere near as smart as some of his classmates. He was actually bullied for being 'too dumb.'

He would sometimes get cornered after classes in his dorm by the smarter kids. They would taunt him and call him an idiot- even though Gus was anything but. They would ask him genius-level questions and if Gus couldn't answer them on his first try, he was classified as an imbecile.

Most of the other classmates, those who didn't bully him, were arrogant. They thought that being smarter than the average high school student made them better than everyone else, and that was annoying to Gus. Just because they were smart didn't mean they had to treat everyone else like second class citizens. They weren't better than everyone else.

Some of Gus's new peers were nice. But they already had friends, having been going to the academy for two plus years instead of Gus's one. Gus tried making friends with these students, but it just didn't work. They already had friends. Gus tried, but he never really fit into the group.

Dang, Gus missed Shawn. Shawn never called Gus stupid, even though Shawn had a genius-level-IQ. If anything, Shawn teased Gus for being too smart. Shawn never made Gus feel left out, and Shawn always stuck up for him if he was getting bullied.

Gus would always go on adventures with Shawn. And even though he denied it most of the time, Gus liked their adventures. He didn't like getting caught- they got caught every time by Mr. Spencer- but he did like the adventure. Shawn made things fun, and even though they were a bit dangerous, Gus liked the adventures. And Gus knew that Shawn knew that he was lying when he said he wanted to be left out of Shawn's next escapade.

He missed these adventures when he was at the academy. He missed not being dragged along on Shawn's newest scheme- no doubt Shawn was having tons of fun with those right now. Shawn was probably having the time of his life while Gus was living his worst nightmare.

Gus's horrible, no good, very bad year just got worse as time progressed. The bullying didn't let up- it got worse if anything. In his classmates eyes, he went from idiot to the dumbest person on earth.

But eventually the year ended, eventually, and Gus was relieved to hear his parents say that he didn't have to go back next year if he didn't want to. He didn't. Gus was perfectly content to go back to public school with Shawn- with people who (somewhat) appreciated him.

Gus would never go unappreciated anymore.

**o0o0oOo0o0o**

Gus learned something interesting that summer from a classmate. Josh, the kid's name was, was not a close friend of Gus's, or Shawn's for that matter, but they weren't on bad terms.

Gus learned that Shawn stopped talking over the year. Josh told Gus that Shawn barely said anything for the first three quarters of the 10th grade. Not many noticed that Shawn stopped talking, Josh himself included on the list who didn't notice, and the few who did notice were happy that Shawn had stopped annoying everyone with his incessant talking.

Josh told Gus that towards the beginning of the fourth quarter, Shawn started talking again, very quietly. Most people ignored him, some still not noticing him and others not wanting to talk to him. After about a month of that, he reverted back to his old self, 100%. He changed back into goofy, noisy Shawn.

Gus thanked Josh for this information, then went off the find Shawn, wanting to know the cause of the abrupt mood changes in his friend- Gus was concerned. After cornering Shawn in his bedroom reading a comic that he had managed to sneak past Henry, he asked Shawn if what Shawn said was true.

Shawn admitted that it was. Shawn told his best friend the whole story, ending with thanking Gus for coming back. Gus recounted the horrors of the academy to Shawn, telling him that he was glad to be back. The two made a pact that day- they would never split up again.

Shawn would be there for Gus.

Gus would be there for Shawn.

Shawn would never have to be ignored again- Gus would always be there with him.

Gus would not have to go unappreciated again- Shawn would always appreciate him.

**AN: Thanks for reading! This started out like the other two chapters, but then morphed into a friendship drabble after I ran out of stuff to write about Gus alone. Follow, Favorite, and Review please! NEXT UP: LASSIE! **


	4. Not Going to Let You Be Hurt Again

_Why?_

_Why do people bully? Why do people get bullied?_ 23 year old Carlton Lassiter wondered. Looking at all of his friends,

His friend was now afraid to share his opinion in his new job because he didn't like how some coworkers always teased him for what he said. _Why should he have to be scared to share his opinion?_

His friend, his younger brother was also getting bullied. He had been in high school for not even a semester, and was already getting bullied for doing things he couldn't help but do to the point where he was asking to become homeschooled. _Why should he have to get out of that school because of something he can't control?_

His sister is getting bullied. Lauren, at age 10, was getting bullied by someone she used to consider her best friend. Her 'friend' put anonymous letters in her locker and called her things that she was not. _Why should she have to get all anxious and nervous because someone she used to have fun with is jealous of her?_

One of his female friends had gotten bullied to the point where last year, she self-harmed. People would call her, disguising their voices and call her cuss words and send her the middle finger oftentimes in person. _Why should she have to get so beaten down that she would want to hurt herself?_

Another girl he knew was in a play, and had to wear an interesting costume for her role (which she did great in) and some people took a picture of her and teased her about it for weeks. _Why should she have to be teased for doing something she loves?_

A cousin of his, who was a senior, got caught up in some drama on the night of her prom. Sick of everything everyone was saying, she just went to the bleachers and sat by herself. _Why should she have to be by herself while everyone else was having a great time?_

Younger Carlton. Back in high school, he was ignored by most of the people in his class. Sometimes he would cry myself to sleep wondering why people didn't care enough about him to talk to him. _Why should've younger Carlton been subject to such sadness because other people didn't care enough to talk to him?_

_Why do people bully? Why do people get bullied?_ Carlton couldn't answer his own question- at least not with a legitimate answer. But he did know one thing, he wouldn't do nothing about what was happening. Just getting out of the academy, Carlton was now a rookie for the SBPD. But he still had time on his hands, and having virtually no social life, he decided to something about the subject he most cared about. Not knowing where to start, he looked for bullying help online.

He found a lot of advice columns, but none dedicated solely to bullying problems. Deciding that was something he could do, with his knowledge of computer systems from extracurricular high school classes, he set up the advice column, deciding to use the penname X. Hey, he had just graduated the police academy- he knew not to be liberal with putting personal information online. Besides, he didn't want people to be gender biased against him.

He only got a few small, easily-answered questions at first. Then one day, he got a question from a middle-school girl who said she knew that people didn't like her, but said she didn't know why. Not knowing how he could possibly guess why the girl's peers didn't like her, Carlton decided to just encourage her. He told her to hang on, that better days would come, as they eventually began to for him and his friends.

He and the girl started emailing every day, each time the girl's emails seemed to be happier and happier, and Carlton was glad her days seemed to be getting better. However, after about a month after starting to email the child, the Chief gave Carlton the night shift. Too tired and too busy to email his pen pal anymore, Carlton sent her one last email explaining his situation. He didn't like not emailing her, he enjoyed talking to her and her to him, but the protection of the city had to come first.

He hoped that the two would talk again. But even if they didn't the girl gave him something he wouldn't have had otherwise: an extreme desire to protect the innocent. He had it before, but after talking to the girl confused as to why people were hurting her, the feeling intensified.

Carlton Lassiter would never let anyone hurt the innocent again if he had a say in it.

**oOoOo0oOoOo**

**15 YEARS LATER-2007**

Juliet O'Hara was still in the act of trying to get her partner to open up. Today, she had taken him out to coffee in hopes of getting him to talk to her. She told him he could ask her anything.

"Fine, fine," the tough-as-nails detective ground out. "What do you remember most about your childhood?" He hoped that O'Hara would just start talking and he could tune her out and enjoy his coffee.

"The fifth grade. I was so confused back then. I wasn't exactly popular among my classmates, and I had no idea why," Juliet laughed, almost bitterly. "I was getting really tired of it, really confused. But then one day I was searching the internet. I came across an anti-bullying blog." Lassiter looked up at this, curious now to which blog she went to.

"I started emailing the person who ran the blog, I think he referred to himself as X. He really helped me- made me more confident. Made me what I am today. He had a job though, so I haven't talked to him since the fifth grade. But he left a lasting effect on my life. Wish I knew how I could thank him…" she trailed off, a wishful look in her eye.

"Wait, you were emailing a person who referred to himself as X, and he had to leave because of a job?" Carlton asked, incredulous, unbelieving.

"Yup, that's what I said," Juliet responded, surprised at how interested her partner was in what she was saying.

"I had an anti-bullying about 15 years ago… and I referred to myself as X," Carlton announced. "And I started emailing a girl who had no idea why people were bullying her, until I was assigned night shift, and had to stop emailing her."

"YOU"RE X!" Juliet practically shouted. Carlton blushed in surprise, but was just as happy as his partner to finally be meeting the person from their memories, only to already have met them.

Carlton didn't have time to ponder anymore though, cause in a second Juliet was on the other side of the booth, hugging him. He hugged her back, her image of her a combination of the competent partner he knew she was and the confused child from long ago.

"You helped me so much!" the two said in unison, Juliet excitedly and Lassiter quietly.

They both smiled.

**AN: Lassiter is X. Bet you didn't see that one coming**** Anyways, this was not intended Juliet/Carlton. I like the two's partner relationships, and this was one of those, but seriously… Shules all the way! Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	5. Not Going to be a Follower Anymore

**AN:** **I know I haven't updated this story in a month, but it's not dead! I just didn't have tons of inspiration for this chapter: I came up with the idea, but it took a while to develop. But enough of my babbling, enjoy the chapter!**

"But why?" 8-year-old Karen Dunlap asked.

"Because I SAID SO!" Kate yelled back, terrifying young Karen, her 'best friend.' Best friend was really a lose term, though, it really met that Kate bossed Karen around and Karen usually did what she was told without question because she was afraid of the bigger girl's rage.

Not this time. Karen had finally drawn the line when it came to pranking the third grade teacher. Karen was ok with pranking her classmates along with Kate, taking the blame for the stunts (and getting pranked back in return) almost all of the time, but she was not ok with pranking an adult, something that could easily get her in trouble.

But Kate didn't care that Karen's morals said she shouldn't be doing this, and Kate didn't care that they would most likely get caught if they did follow through with her idea- she could pin the blame on Karen easily. And so Kate dragged Karen along anyway, threatening to break the ties of friendship and do other unspeakable things if the other girl didn't go along.

The plan was simple: get to school early. Go to Mrs. Tilly's desk. Spray silly string over everything.

Armed with two cans of silly string one March morning, the two set out on their mission.

After sneaking into the classroom while Mrs. Tilly was in the bathroom, the girls tiptoed over to their educator's desk. Kate opened her can of silly string immediately, gesturing for Karen to follow suit. Karen opened up her can. The elder girl nudged Karen, hoping to get her to make the first move. Karen hesitantly looked away and pushed the trigger, spattering the sticky substance all over wood and office supplies.

After Karen made the first move, Kate also started spraying the desk. Kate was smiling almost wolfishly, excited to be doing something so _rebellious_. Karen, on the other hand, was scared almost stiff. She didn't want to be here, breaking the rules with someone she honestly wished she could just get away from. But if she left Kate, she wouldn't have any friends at all, and you can't just go without friends…

The desk was almost completely covered when the classroom door opened and Mrs. Tilly entered the room. The lights were still off, so as the two students stood frozen she couldn't see them, but a quick flick of the light switch fixed that problem, and Cassandra Tilly found herself shocked to see one of her best students and one of her worst standing in front of her silly string covered desk with two cans of silly string in their hands.

Most teachers would be mad at the vandalism, but Cassandra was new to the profession and still one of the "nice" teachers. And when this young woman saw her desk covered with multi colored silly string and the two girls wearing all black, she laughed. And she laughed hard. The scene just reminded her so much of how criminals looked in movies when they were caught in the middle of a crime.

Karen and Kate were confused: why was the teacher laughing at them, she should be furious! But instead she just laughed at them, as if vandalizing her desk was funny.

Having finished her bout of laughter, Cassandra spoke. "I guess that I have to punish you, even if I find this hilarious. You guys are just too adorable all dressed up in black!" Kate scowled at being called adorable, and Karen frowned, confused. Their teacher continued, "Ok, I'll make you a deal," she said. Mrs. Tilly really didn't want to have to punish the two: Karen was always so sweet in class and she had the feeling she didn't even want to be here. And Kate, as rude as she was at times, deserved mercy. Cassandra knew from personal experience that when students were punished, it didn't eliminate the problem, it just made them more and more bitter. Knowing this, the young woman decided to go easy on her students. It was a first offense after all. "You two clean up all this silly string off my desk, and we can forget about this whole incident; no one outside of us three even has to know."

Karen sighed with relief. She couldn't believe they had been let off this easily, and she was really grateful to her teacher: her mom would kill her if she got in trouble again. Kate was also glad they got off easy: it would prove to her reluctant friend that they could do whatever and not get in too much trouble. The two cleaned off the desk with paper towels (luckily there wasn't any paper on the desk) and finished just before the bell rang.

**OoOoOoO**

**RECESS THAT DAY:**

"See," Kate said to Karen, "we can get away with ANYTHING!" Kate smiled.

Karen was not amused. She had had enough of following Kate into trouble. She couldn't afford to get into trouble again; she couldn't afford to be Kate's follower anymore, nor did she want to be.

"Listen Kate," Karen said sternly. Well, as sternly as a third grader could be. "I'm tired of following you into trouble, and I'm not going to take the blame for your ideas anymore. I am done following you. I am done being your so called friend. Goodbye." It broke Karen's heart to be that mean to her first friend, but she knew it had to be done. She wasn't going to take this anymore.

Karen walked away, leaving a shocked Kate behind. Walking off to find a new best friend, Kate couldn't help but be slightly proud of her former friend for finally growing a backbone. Now if only she had the backbone when they were friends…

Karen walked away. To where, she didn't know. But she did know one thing. And that was that she wasn't going to be anyone's follower ever again. She would be a leader.

**AN: And there is Karen's chapter. One month of working on it and I finally finished it: aren't you guys proud of me? Well, I hope you enjoyed and be sure to leave a review!**


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